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It seems like yesterday when you came out of your Mum's womb and it was rather quick as compared to your sister Jaskeerat who made your Mum groan for hours. It seemed like a never ending process till the early hours of the morning.

I had prepared for the same during your birth and even took a book with me so I could sit and read the book while Mum toiled. My only gripe with you is that you did not even let me finish the first chapter of it and fortunately for your Mum it was not that arduous as the first one. There you were in a couple of hours screaming to the world announcing your arrival. I had no courage to cut Jaskeerat's umbilical cord out of sheer fear laced with ignorance of a first time Dad.

This was not the case with you. I gleefully got hold of the clippers to cut your umbilical cord; the moment of freedom and bond for both of us.

We did not even know it was going to be you, Trimaan. We had not done any shopping because we wanted it to be a surprise for us as was the case with Jaskeerat. The next day Jaskeerat and I rushed to the store to buy clothes for you. It was the best shopping day of my life and a special one for your proud sister who wanted to buy the whole store for her little brother.

In the world we live in, the stark truth is the differentiation the world society has put between a male and a female. And the role the male plays in itself in a way where he has to prove that he has become a man many times over his life. It has nothing to do with the age but with one's mentality shone through the deeds.

Trimaan, you became a man, not today but many times over since the age of five. You may not remember this but allow me to share with you the events. We were in Ferozepore in 2000 where we went to see Ami ji- your Grandma. We were flying kites on the roof. When you had mastered the art of kite flying in a very short period of time, I left you there with the kids older than you to have fun. It was the first time for you. You looked the happiest person that day. And suddenly I see you rushing down the stairs angry at one of the boys who was a bit older than you were who had grabbed your kite from you. You went after him and got it back. For me you became a man that day.

You became a man the day you walked back home on your own from Estes M. Mcdoniel Elementary school while your sister and I were desperately looking for you. Finally when we get home after looking for you all over, there you were with your manly smirk as if you had beaten us to our own game which you had done indeed.

You became a man when you chose to play trumpet in the 6th grade and were selected to play in the senior band after a couple of tries. I had no idea how you played the trumpet so well. I could not even make it make a little sound while blowing in it by emptying my lungs.

You became a man again when you were in the 6th grade at Roy Martin Magnet School and were chosen by your math teacher to participate in a Science Fair at UNLV. Its cost was $800.00 but you were selected because of your math grades and did not have to pay a cent. You were ecstatic because you were going to spend the whole week at the UNLV campus on your own. I remember your Mum rushing to UNLV in the morning to do your joora (top knot) and as soon she was done with it, she was invited by you to leave because you wanted to enjoy that world of yours.

Your manhood showed up again when you helped a 7th grader and an 8th grader with their science projects with the aid of your lap top.

And what was the prize for that manhood?

You won the first prize and the two you helped won the second and the third.

Manhood is not counted by the number of hairs on one’s face but with one’s deeds which you proved in the camp at UNLV.

Manhood is all about caring, a quality that you have had since birth. A gift that you cherish and it showed itself once again during a basketball game at your middle school where your band played during the half time. You did not have to buy the ticket to get into the game being the band member but you spent $1.00 of your pocket money to buy it so you could get into the bicycle raffle. Luckily you won the raffle but there was a catch. You had to make a basket. And you succeeded in that too. You brought the bike home when your Mum went to pick you up.

Unbeknown to us you had other plans in your mind.

You wanted to win the bicycle so that you could give it to the special aids kid at your school who would not have won it because he would not have been able to swoosh the ball in the basket.

The next day, you took the bike back to school and told your teacher about your plan. I remember your smiling picture in your school newspaper for that wonderful gesture of yours. The happiness on the face of the kid was worth a thousand words of the photo itself.

But you know the best part of the story, Trimaan? You did not even tell him that you did this for him. You just said that you were too tall for the bike. This is what goodness is all about when it is shared in this selfless manner.

Remember the day of your first debate when you had been sick for a week and met your partner 30 minutes before the debate? You were 12 years old then and participated in 2 events. You won the first prize and the third in both. Hence started your manly journey in the world of debates where everyone seemed nervous except you. I know that because I have been told by your colleagues and I watched it myself once when I was a judge at one of the tournaments.

Then in the 8th grade in 2009, you had the opportunity to go to San Antonio, Texas for the National Tournament as a National Junior Forensic Leaguer, your first national tournament where you were a Quarterfinalist, a great feat for anyone.

This journey continued at The Advanced Technology Academy, your high school. The trophies you have been able to collect are fighting for the room to show themselves off to each other. You have been to two Nationals and won various other tournaments. The spirit of the man is not measured in just winning but to be able to play the game with the best of one’s abilities which you commendably have been doing.

As the old saying goes:Our attitudes define life. If people start criticizing or hurting you, don't get bothered. In any game, the spectators make the noise not the players. . So play on.

And play on you did, in your own little way. Quietly.

Quietly you did play the same not too long ago when you saw one of your school mates doubled down on the floor in the hallway, throwing up while the throngs of the rest of the students just walked by, nonchalantly without even noticing the peril of the young man lying in a fetal position in front of all, unnoticed by them except by you.

You rushed to the next class room, called the teacher, stayed with the boy and took him to the nurse. You did all this quietly, just like you swooshed the ball in the basket to win the bike for someone else in the middle school.

This is the character of a man which cannot be measured by mere chronological years but by these kinds of gestures.

Trimaan, you turned 18 today but by the measure of the events you have gone through in these mere 18 years, they are larger than many galaxies you want to explore as a future astrophysicist, the subject you love.

Some of us just gaze up and try to count the stars. You on the other hand have all the opportunities because of your nature and character to touch them, get sucked into their gravity or bounce on them weightlessly.

This is just the beginning of your journey where sky is not the limit in literal terms. With all your potential, you are capable of having this universe and many others on the palm of your hand.

Because the words of the famous astrophysicist Carl Sagan say so, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

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